Method and device for pdcch repetition in multi-trp system and coreset prioritization

ABSTRACT

A method and a user equipment (UE) are provided for monitoring physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidates by a UE. A reference control resource set (CORESET) having a plurality of transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states is identified. The PDCCH candidates in the reference CORESET and in one or more CORESETs that overlap the reference CORESET in a time domain, are monitored. Each of the one or more CORESETs has a set of one or more TCI states that is either identical to, or a subset of, the plurality of TCI states of the reference CORESET. The monitored PDCCH candidates are received in accordance with a single frequency network (SFN) transmission scheme.

PRIORITY

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent applications filed on Apr. 30, 2021,Jul. 26, 2021, and Nov. 3, 2021, in the United States Patent andTrademark Office, and assigned Ser. Nos. 63/182,134, 63/225,808, and63/275,170, respectively, the contents of which are incorporated hereinby reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) transmission schemes, and more particularly, totransmission schemes for physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)transmission from multiple transmission and reception points (TRPs) toschedule a same channel.

BACKGROUND

MIMO transmission schemes have been widely used in digital communicationto increase the capacity of wireless channels. The 3^(rd) GenerationPartnership Project (3GPP) mobile communication standard supports MIMOtransmission schemes in which a PDSCH or physical uplink shared channel(PUSCH) is transmitted from different physical antennas or differentantenna ports.

Different antenna ports of a MIMO transmission scheme may be within asingle TRP, in which case the scheme is referred to as a single TRPtransmission scheme. Different antenna ports of one or differentchannels may also be within multiple TRPs, which are typicallynon-co-located, in which case the scheme is referred to as a multi-TRP(M-TRP) scheme. An example of the M-TRP scheme includes a rank-2 PDSCHtransmitted by two antenna ports, where a first antenna port is within afirst TRP and a second antenna port is within a second TRP.

M-TRP transmissions can be categorized into single-downlink controlinformation (DCI)-TRP and multi-DCI M-TRP. With single-DCI M-TRP, asingle PDCCH is transmitted from one of the TRPs and schedules one ormore PDSCHs. In one transmission scheme, different layers of a singlePDSCH are transmitted from different TRPs. In other transmissionschemes, multiple PDSCHs (multiplexed in a time domain or a frequencydomain) with the same transport block (TB) are transmitted, where alllayers of a single PDSCH are transmitted from a respective one of theTRPs. Different PDSCHs may be transmitted from different TRPs accordingto a pattern.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a single-DCI M-TRP transmission scheme.A single DCI (PDCCH) 106 is transmitted to a user equipment (UE) 114from a first TRP 102, and schedules a PDSCH 108 with two layers. A firstlayer 110 of the PDSCH is transmitted from a first antenna port withinthe first TRP 102, while a second layer 112 is transmitted from a secondantenna port within a second TRP 104.

With multi-DCI M-TRP, each TRP transmits its own PDCCH, which schedulesa PDSCH that is also transmitted from the ports within the same TRP.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating multi-DCI M-TRP transmission. Each ofthe two TRPs, a first TRP 202 and a second TRP 204, transmits their ownDCI (PDCCH), a first DCI 206 and a second DCI 208, respectively, to a UE214. Each DCI schedules one PDSCH with two-layer transmission, a firstPDSCH 210 and a second PDSCH 212. All of the layers of a given PDSCH aretransmitted from the antenna ports within the same TRP.

Different multiplexing schemes can be applied for PDCCH transmission.The schemes include time division multiplexing (TDM), frequency divisionmultiplexing (FDM), special division multiplexing (SDM), and singlefrequency network (SFN).

For a non-SFN M-TRP PDCCH transmission, the following schemes can beconsidered.

In a non-repetition scheme, one encoding/rate matching is for a PDCCHwith two transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states. With thisscheme, a single PDCCH candidate has two different TCI states. Forexample, specific control channel elements (CCEs)/resource elementgroups (REGs) of a candidate may be associated with a first TCI stateand the remainder of the CCEs/REGs may be associated with a second TCIstate.

In a repetition scheme, encoding/rate matching is based on onerepetition, and the same coded bits are repeated for another repetition.Each repetition has the same number of CCEs and coded bits, andcorresponds to the same DCI payload.

In a multi-chance scheme, separate DCIs schedule the same physicaldownlink shared channel (PDSCH)/physical uplink shared channel(PUSCH)/reference signal (RS)/transport block (TB)/etc., or result inthe same outcome.

SUMMARY

According to one embodiment, a method is provided for monitoring PDCCHcandidates by a UE. A reference control resource set (CORESET) having aplurality of TCI states is identified. The PDCCH candidates in thereference CORESET and in one or more CORESETs that overlap the referenceCORESET in a time domain, are monitored. Each of the one or moreCORESETs has a set of one or more TCI states that is either identicalto, or a subset of, the plurality of TCI states of the referenceCORESET. The monitored PDCCH candidates are received in accordance withan SFN transmission scheme.

According to one embodiment, a UE is provided that includes a processorand a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storinginstructions. When executed, the instructions cause the processor toidentify a reference CORESET having a plurality of TCI states, andmonitor PDCCH candidates in the reference CORESET and in one or moreCORESETs that overlap the reference CORESET in a time domain. Each ofthe one or more CORESETs has a set of one or more TCI states that iseither identical to, or a subset of, the plurality of TCI states of thereference CORESET. The monitored PDCCHs are received in accordance withan SFN transmission scheme.

According to an embodiment, a method is provided for monitoring PDCCHcandidates by a UE. A maximum number of monitoring occasions (MOs) of afirst search space (SS) set permitted between a first MO of the first SSset and a second MO of a second SS set, is set. MOs of the first SS setand the second SS set are arranged in ascending order based on the setmaximum number of MOs. The PDCCH candidates in the arranged MOs arereceived in accordance with the UE and the network communicating using amulti-TRP repetition scheme or a multi-TRP multi-chance scheme.

According to one embodiment, a UE is provided that includes a processorand a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storinginstructions. When executed, the instructions cause the processor to seta maximum number of MOs of a first SS set permitted between a first MOof the first SS set and a second MO of a second SS set. First PDCCHcandidates of the first MO are linked to second PDDCH candidates of thesecond MO. The instructions also cause the processor to arrange MOs ofthe first SS set and the second SS set in ascending order based on theset maximum number of MOs. The PDCCH candidates in the arranged MOs arereceived in accordance with the UE and the network communicating using amulti-TRP repetition scheme or a multi-TRP multi-chance scheme.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainembodiments of the present disclosure will be more apparent from thefollowing detailed description, when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a single-DCI M-TRP transmission;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating multi-DCI M-TRP transmission;

FIG. 3 a diagram illustrating PDCCHs according to the 1SS-1CORESETscheme, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating PDCCHs according to the 1SS-2CORESETscheme, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating PDCCHs according to the 2SS-2CORESETscheme, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating CORESETs, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for monitoring PDCCHcandidates, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating PDCCH candidates of an SS set,according to an embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method for monitoring PDCCHcandidates, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating two sets of MOs fully inter-mixed,according to an embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating two sets of MOs fully inter-mixed,according to another embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating overlapping linked MOs, according toan embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a second-repetition MO and a firstrepetition MO later in time, according to an embodiment; and

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an electronic device in a networkenvironment, according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure are described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be notedthat the same elements will be designated by the same reference numeralsalthough they are shown in different drawings. In the followingdescription, specific details such as detailed configurations andcomponents are merely provided to assist with the overall understandingof the embodiments of the present disclosure. Therefore, it should beapparent to those skilled in the art that various changes andmodifications of the embodiments described herein may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition,descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted forclarity and conciseness. The terms described below are terms defined inconsideration of the functions in the present disclosure, and may bedifferent according to users, intentions of the users, or customs.Therefore, the definitions of the terms should be determined based onthe contents throughout this specification.

The present disclosure may have various modifications and variousembodiments, among which embodiments are described below in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings. However, it should be understoodthat the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments, butincludes all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives within thescope of the present disclosure.

Although the terms including an ordinal number such as first, second,etc. may be used for describing various elements, the structuralelements are not restricted by the terms. The terms are only used todistinguish one element from another element. For example, withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure, a first structuralelement may be referred to as a second structural element. Similarly,the second structural element may also be referred to as the firststructural element. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any andall combinations of one or more associated items.

The terms used herein are merely used to describe various embodiments ofthe present disclosure but are not intended to limit the presentdisclosure. Singular forms are intended to include plural forms unlessthe context clearly indicates otherwise. In the present disclosure, itshould be understood that the terms “include” or “have” indicate theexistence of a feature, a number, a step, an operation, a structuralelement, parts, or a combination thereof, and do not exclude theexistence or probability of the addition of one or more other features,numerals, steps, operations, structural elements, parts, or combinationsthereof.

Unless defined differently, all terms used herein have the same meaningsas those understood by a person skilled in the art to which the presentdisclosure belongs. Terms such as those defined in a generally useddictionary are to be interpreted to have the same meanings as thecontextual meanings in the relevant field of art, and are not to beinterpreted to have ideal or excessively formal meanings unless clearlydefined in the present disclosure.

The electronic device may be one of various types of electronic devices.The electronic devices may include, for example, a portablecommunication device (e.g., a smart phone), a computer, a portablemultimedia device, a portable medical device, a camera, a wearabledevice, or a home appliance. According to one embodiment of thedisclosure, an electronic device is not limited to those describedabove.

The terms used in the present disclosure are not intended to limit thepresent disclosure but are intended to include various changes,equivalents, or replacements for a corresponding embodiment. With regardto the descriptions of the accompanying drawings, similar referencenumerals may be used to refer to similar or related elements. A singularform of a noun corresponding to an item may include one or more of thethings, unless the relevant context clearly indicates otherwise. As usedherein, each of such phrases as “A or B,” “at least one of A and B,” “atleast one of A or B,” “A, B, or C,” “at least one of A, B, and C,” and“at least one of A, B, or C,” may include all possible combinations ofthe items enumerated together in a corresponding one of the phrases. Asused herein, terms such as “1^(st),” “2nd,” “first,” and “second” may beused to distinguish a corresponding component from another component,but are not intended to limit the components in other aspects (e.g.,importance or order). It is intended that if an element (e.g., a firstelement) is referred to, with or without the term “operatively” or“communicatively”, as “coupled with,” “coupled to,” “connected with,” or“connected to” another element (e.g., a second element), it indicatesthat the element may be coupled with the other element directly (e.g.,wired), wirelessly, or via a third element.

As used herein, the term “module” may include a unit implemented inhardware, software, or firmware, and may interchangeably be used withother terms, such as, for example, “logic,” “logic block,” “part,” and“circuitry.” A module may be a single integral component, or a minimumunit or part thereof, adapted to perform one or more functions. Forexample, according to one embodiment, a module may be implemented in aform of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

The present disclosure defines a new PDCCH prioritization rule thatenables the UE to monitor overlapping PDCCHs with different TCI states.The present disclosure also provides restrictions on an SS configurationto address log-likelihood ratio (LLR) buffering, and blind decoding(BD)/CCE counting for inter-span repetitions.

The PDCCH prioritization rule is essential for efficient PDCCHmonitoring in M-TRP systems with increased reliability of PDCCH, whichis mainly due to beam diversity. Without such a prioritization rule, UEbehavior is either undefined or the UE unnecessarily drops theoverlapping PDCCH candidates with different TCI states. Theprioritization rule assumes a capability at the UE side to monitor twodifferent TC states at the same time. The SS configuration restrictionsallow the UE to maintain a low LLR buffer size for PDCCH monitoring perslot. A BD/CCE counting rule for inter-span PDCCH monitoring allowsper-span SS dropping.

Many of the embodiments described in detail below apply to bothrepetition and multi-chance schemes, and they may be considered the samescheme where the core feature is two linked PDCCHs providing the sameinformation about scheduling a PDSCH.

In order to enable a PDCCH transmission with two different TCI states,one approach is to associate one CORESET with two different TCI states.This scheme is referred to as 1SS-1CORESET scheme. FIG. 3 is a diagramillustrating PDCCHs according to the 1SS-1CORESET scheme, according toan embodiment. Blocks 302 correspond to REGs/CCEs associated with afirst TCI state, while blocks 304 correspond to REGs/CCEs associatedwith a second TC state. Accordingly, when using FDM, a first PDCCH (withDCI) 306 includes REGs/CCEs that are split evenly between the first andsecond TCI states. Similarly, when using TDM, a second PDCCH (with DCI)308 also includes REGs/CCEs that are split evenly between the first andsecond TCI states.

Accordingly, the following schemes may be considered. In scheme A, a DCIor PDCCH candidate (in a given SS set) is associated with both TCIstates of the CORESET. In scheme B, two sets of PDCCH candidates (in agiven SS set) are associated with the two TCI states of the CORESET,respectively. In scheme C, two sets of PDCCH candidates are associatedwith two corresponding SS sets, where both SS sets are associated withthe CORESET and each SS set is associated with only one TCI state of theCORESET.

For schemes B and C, the following cases may be considered for mappingbetween different PDCCH candidates with different TCI states. In case 1,Two or more PDCCH candidates are explicitly linked together (the UEknows the linking before decoding). In case 2, Two or more PDCCHcandidates are not explicitly linked together (the UE does not know thelinking before decoding).

As an alternative to associating PDCCH candidates with two different TCIstates, one SS set may be associated with two different CORESETs, whereeach CORESET is associated with a TCI state. This scheme is referred toas 1SS-2CORESET scheme. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating PDCCHsaccording to the 1SS-2CORESET scheme, according to an embodiment. Afirst PDCCH 402 and a second PDCCH 404 of a single SS set 406 are shownin a first CORESET 408 and a second CORESET 410, respectively, for bothFDM and TDM.

A different SS and CORESET multiplexing scheme is also possible to allowmultiple TCI states for PDCCH candidates. With this scheme, referred toas 2SS-2CORESET scheme, two SS sets are associated with two CORESETs,where each CORESET is configured with a different TCI state. FIG. 5 is adiagram illustrating PDCCHs according to the 2SS-2CORESET scheme,according to an embodiment. Specifically, a first PDCCH 502 (candidatex) is from a first SS set and a first COERSET 504 having a first TCIstate, while a second PDCCH (candidate y) 506 is from a second SS and asecond CORESET 508 having a second TCI state.

While embodiments of the disclosure generally relate to the 1SS-1CORESETscheme, the described methods may be applied to any SS-CORESETmultiplexing scheme. The following methods may also be applied to bothrepetition and multi-chance PDCCHs.

Prioritization of PDCH Reception: TCI States Aspects

In 3GPP Rel-15/16, for different channels overlapping in time domain,there are procedures for the UE to determine channels to receive bycertain prioritization rules. Once the UE determines a channel toreceive, it will also determine all of the overlapping channels with thesame TCI state to receive. With multi-TRP PDCCH schemes, a PDCCHcandidate may be configured to be transmitted with two different TCIstates, each corresponding to a specific TRP. In this case, thedefinition of the “same TCI state” needs to be clarified.

In 3GPP Rel-15/16, when the UE is configured with single cell operationor for intra-band carrier aggregation (CA), when UE monitors the PDCCHin one or multiple CORESETs on the same set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, where the CORESETs areconfigured with TCI states with quasi-colocation (QCL)-Type set to“typeD”, the UE monitors PDCCH candidates in specific CORESETs and allthe other CORESETs with the same value of QCL-Type.

The legacy rule is mainly suitable for when the CORESET/PDCCH candidatesare configured with a single TCI state. In case of multiple TCI states,CORESET #1 may be configured with a TCI state pair with QCL-typeD pair(a₁, b₁) and CORESET #2 may be configured with a TCI state pair withQCL-typeD pair (a₂, b₂). In this case, specific rules are needed todetermine if the two CORESETs can be categorized to have the same TCIstates for the purpose of PDCCH prioritization.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating CORESETs, according to an embodiment.First and second PDCCHs 602 and 604 are in a first CORESET and a firstSS set and associated with two different TCI states. A third PDCCH 606is in a second CORESET and a second SS and a fourth PDDCH 608 is in athird CORESET and a third SS. The second and third CORESETs areexplicitly linked. The UE should be able to receive all PDCCH candidatesin all shown CORESETs.

Multiple TCI states may be associated with a CORESET in the high-speedtrain (HST) and SFN transmission schemes. With an SFN PDCCH enhancementscheme, a CORESET is associated with two different TCI states and aPDCCH is transmitted such that the demodulation reference signal (DMRS)ports are associated with the same two different TCI states. Theassociation of a CORESET with two different TCI states may be indicatedby a medium access control (MAC)-control element (CE) command. TheMAC-CE may activate a TCI codepoint with a single TCI state or multipleTCI states, which may be described as a single element, a pair, orm-tupple (e.g., m TCI states for one CORESET) by associating the TCIcodepoints to a CORESET ID. In the prioritization procedure describedbelow, it is assumed that a maximum of two TCI states are associatedwith the CORESET. However, embodiments are not limited thereto, and theprocedure can be generalized to an arbitrary number of TCI states. Agiven PDCCH is then associated with a TCI state pair with qcl-typeD pair(a_(i), b_(i)).

A reference CORESET is chosen as the CORESET that corresponds to acommon search space (CSS) set with a lowest index in a cell with alowest index containing CSS, if any. Otherwise, the reference CORESET ischosen as the CORESET that corresponds to a UE-specific search space(USS) set with a lowest index in a cell with a lowest index.

In a first method, a CORESET prioritization rule is provided for anSFN-based PDCCH and a reference CORESET with two TCI states. If the UEoperates in a single cell or an intra-band CA, and is configured withmulti-TRP SFN PDCCH, the UE applies the legacy rule to determine theCORESETs to monitor. In case that the reference CORESET is associatedwith two TCI states (a, b), the UE monitors all overlapping CORESETsassociated with the same two states (a,b).

Simultaneous reception of two TCI states (QCL-D or beam) typicallyrequires two antenna panels at the UE side, with a high likelihood thatthe two beams arrive at different panels. If the UE is capable ofmonitoring a CORESET with two different beams, it may also be capable ofmonitoring CORSETS with a single TCI state in any of the team beams.

In a second method, a CORESET prioritization rule is provided for anSFN-based PDCCH and a reference CORESET with two TCI states. If the UEoperates in single cell or an intra-band CA, and is configured withmulti-TRP SFN PDCCH, the UE applies the legacy rule to determine theCORESETs to monitor. In case that the reference CORESET is associatedwith two TCI states (a, b), the UE monitors all overlapping CORESETsassociated with a single TCI state a, a single TCI state b, or a pair ofTCI states (a, b).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of monitoring PDCCHcandidates, according to an embodiment. At 702, a reference CORESET isidentified that has a plurality of TCI states. At 704, CORESETs thatoverlap the reference CORESET in the time domain are identified. At 706,one or more CORESETs having all of, or only a portion of, the pluralityof TCI states of the reference CORESET are determined from theidentified CORESETs. Specifically, each of the one or more determinedCORESETs has a set of one or more TCI states that is either identicalto, or a subset of, the plurality of TCI states of the referenceCORESET. At 708, PDCCH candidates in the reference CORESET and in theone or more determined CORESETs are monitored. At 710, the monitoredPDCCH candidates are received in accordance with an SFN transmissionscheme. As described above, the reference CORESET may have a total oftwo TCI states, however, embodiments of the disclosure are not limitedthereto.

If the reference CORESET is associated with a single TCI state a, andthe UE is capable of receiving two TCI states simultaneously (i.e.,monitoring a CORESET with two different TCI states), the UE may alsomonitor overlapping CORESETs with two different TCI states where one ofthe TCI states is the same as that of the reference CORESET.

In a third method, a CORESET prioritization rule is provided forSFN-based PDCCH and a reference CORESET with a single TCI state. If theUE operates in single cell or an intra-band CA and is configured withmulti-TRP SFN PDCCH, the UE applies the legacy rule to determine theCORESETs to monitor. In case that the reference CORESET is associatedwith a single TCI state a, the UE determines a CORESET, among theoverlapping CORESETs, with two different TCI states (a, b) or (b, a),such that at least one of the two TCI states is the same as that of thereference CORESET.

If there are multiple such CORESETs, the chosen CORESET corresponds tothe CSS set with the lowest index in the cell with the lowest indexcontaining CSS, if any. Otherwise, the chosen CORESET corresponds to theUSS set with the lowest index in the cell with the lowest index.

The UE monitors all overlapping CORESETs associated with the single TCIstate a, the single TCI state b, or the pair of TCI states (a, b).

In a case of HST-SFN, or any other scenario where a CORESET isconfigured with two different TCI states, a CORESET with two TCI statesshould be prioritized over a CORESET with a single TCI state, regardlessof the SS type and the serving cell index, to ensure the reliability ofPDCCH reception by ensuring its monitoring for the special purpose ithas been configured (e.g., beam diversity in M-TRP schemes).

In a fourth method, a reference CORESET with two TCI states isprioritized. If the UE operates in a single cell or an intra-band CA andis configured with multi-TRP SFN PDCCH, the UE applies the legacy ruleto determine the CORESETs to monitor. The UE determines the referenceCORESET among CORESETs with two different TCI states.

If multiple CORESETs with two TCI states exist, the reference CORESETcorresponds to the CSS set with the lowest index in the cell with thelowest index containing CSS, if any. Otherwise, the reference CORESETcorresponds to the USS set with the lowest index in the cell with lowestindex.

The PDCCH transmission may be also configured to be in an FDM schemewhere a CORESET is configured with two different TCI states. In thiscase, one PDCCH candidate may be associated with two different TCIstates, or there may be PDCCH candidates in the CORESET which are linkedtogether such that the linked PDCCH candidates have different single TCIstates. In any case, a CORESET is associated with two different TCIstates (a, b). Any of the methods described above for the SFN PDCCHscheme can also be applied to the FDM case.

With M-DCI M-TRP, the UE may declare a capability to receive twooverlapping PDSCHs from the two TRPs, where the two PDSCHs areassociated with different TCI states. This transmission scheme istypically scheduled by PDCCHs, which are transmitted from the same TRPas the PDSCHs. PDCCH association to the TRPs is based on a radioresource control (RRC) information element (IE) referred toCORESETPoolIndex, in the CORESET in which the PDCCH is transmitted. A UEwith the aforementioned capability may also be capable ofreceiving/monitoring overlapping PDCCHs/CORESETs with different TCIstates. Since the current CORESET prioritization rule in Rel-15/16 doesnot support simultaneous reception of those PDCCHs, an enhancement maybe required.

The simplest approach to define an enhancement is to resolve the PDCCHprioritization within a CORESETPoolIndex value.

In a fifth method, a CORESET prioritization rule is provided for M-DCIM-TRP, per CORESETPoolIndex. If the UE operates in a single cell or anintra-band CA and is configured with a multi-DCI M-TRP PDSCHtransmission scheme on a serving cell and each CORESET is associatedwith the TRPs according to the value of an RRC IE CORESETPoolIndex, theUE monitors the PDCCHs by applying the legacy PDCCH prioritization ruleto all CORESETs that have the same value of CORESETPoolIndex. With twovalues of CORESETPoolIndex, the UE will determine a first set of PDCCHsin the first set of CORESETs with the first value, and a second set ofPDCCHs in the second set of CORESETs with the second value. The UEmonitors PDCCHs in both sets regardless of whether they overlap.

The above-described fifth method runs two different versions of thelegacy algorithm. A first version for CORESETs with the value ofCORESETPoolIndex=0 and a second version with CORESETs with the value ofCORESETPoolIndex=−1. The method then monitors all CORESETs in any of thesets. For cells that are not configured with M-DCI M-TRP operation,CORESETs are not typically associated with a TRP. For theabove-described method to work, those CORESETs, need to be associatedwith a TRP, through RRC configuration. If a gNB does not configure theassociation via RRC, CORESETs may be assumed to be associated with aspecific TRP (e.g., the first TRP or the value of CORESETPooIndex=0).

The CORESETs on the M-DCI M-TRP cell may be of a higher priority and mayneed to be monitored always regardless of the SS type and serving cellindex. Accordingly, the reference CORESET may be chosen from theCORESETs in the cell configured with M-DCI M-TRP.

A different PDCCH scheme is when every PDCCH candidate of a CORESET istransmitted with two different TCI states in a TDM manner, and theCORESET is configured with two different TCI states with thecorresponding (a_(i), b_(i)).

Thus, in a sixth method with a CORESET prioritization rule for TDMPDCCH, if the UE operates in single cell or intra-band CA and isconfigured with multi-TRP TDM PDCCH within one PDCCH candidate of theCORESET, the UE applies the legacy rule to determine the CORESETs tomonitor with the following modification (a CORSET #i is configured witha TCI state pair with QCL-typeD pair).

When the UE determines the first CORESET with CSS or the USS, for thesake of determination of other CORESETs with the same QCL-typeD, aCORESET #1 is considered to have the same QCL-typeD as CORESET #2 if forevery OFDM symbol on which UE monitors both CORESETs the QCL-typeDvalues of the PDCCH candidates of the two CORESETs are the same.

If CORESET #1 is chosen as the first monitored CORESET, a CORESET #2 isconsidered to have the same QCL-typeD as CORESET #1. This is because atevery overlapping OFDM symbol, the QCL-typeD values of the PDCCHcandidates of the two CORESETs are the same.

A different PDCCH scheme is when the PDCCH candidates are linkedtogether in the same or different SS sets. FIG. 8 is a diagramillustrating PDCCH candidates of an SS set, according to an embodiment.First and second PDCCHs 802 and 804 are in a first CORESET and a firstSS set. A third PDCCH 806 is in a second CORESET and a second SS set. Afourth PDCCH 808 is in a second COREST and a second SS set. PDCCHcandidates of the second SS set are associated with the second CORESETsuch that a certain number of candidates are associated with the firstQCL-typeD value of the CORESET and certain other candidates areassociated with the second QCL-typeD value of the CORESET.

Assuming that the first CORSET is chosen to be monitored according tothe legacy rule, the second CORESET may be considered to be partiallymonitored by the UE as certain candidates of the second CORESET do notoverlap with those of the first CORESET with different QCL-typeD values.The following method is a conservative approach in which the UE does notmonitor any candidates of the CORESET #2 in FIG. 8, even though some maynot experience a QCL-typeD collision.

In a seventh method with a CORESET prioritization rule for TDM PDCCH(linked PDDCH candidates), if the UE operates in single cell orintra-band CA and is configured with multi-TRP TDM PDCCH, where the SSsets and the PDCCH candidates are linked together as repetition ormulti-chance in a TDM scheme associated with the same CORESET, the UEapplies the legacy rule to determine the CORESETs to monitor with thefollowing modification (CORSET #i is configured with a TCI state pairwith qcl-typeD pair).

When the UE determines the first CORESET with CSS or the USS, for thesake of determination of other CORESETs with the same QCL-typeD, aCORESET #1 is considered to have the same QCL-typeD as CORESET #2 if forevery OFDM symbol on which UE monitors both CORESETs the QCL-typeDvalues of the PDCCH candidates of the two CORESETs are the same.

The above-described methods result in full dropping of a CORESET (SS) ifany of its PDCCH candidates have a different QCL-typeD value on a symbolthat overlaps with the first CORESET. Such schemes may unnecessarilydrop the whole SS or CORESET even though the UE is capable of receivingsome PDCCH candidates within them. For example, the UE can monitor thePDCCH in the second set of candidates of CORESET #1. This line ofbehavior can be realized by partial dropping of CORESETs.

In an eighth method with a general CORESET prioritization rule (partialmonitoring: PDCCH candidate granularity: time domain (TD) overlapping),if the UE operates in single cell or intra-band CA and is configuredwith any of the multi-TRP PDCCH schemes, the UE applies the legacy ruleto determine the CORESETs to monitor with the following modification.

When the UE determines the first CORESET with CSS or the USS, for thesake of determination of other CORESETs with the same QCL-typeD, the UEmonitors PDCCH candidates in SS sets corresponding to the second CORESETif the PDCCH candidate of the second CORESET does not overlap in timewith any PDCCH candidate of the first CORESET, such that the twocandidates are associated with two different values QCL-typeD on thesame symbol.

Technically, the UE may still be able to monitor two different PDCCHcandidates from the two CORESETs if the two candidates have the sameQCL-typeD on the overlapping resource elements (REs). The followingmethod defines UE behavior based on this approach.

In a ninth method with a general CORESET prioritization rule (partialmonitoring: PDCCH candidate granularity: TD and frequency domain (FD)overlapping), if the UE operates in single cell or intra-band CA and isconfigured with any of the multi-TRP PDCCH schemes, the UE applies thelegacy rule to determine the CORESETs to monitor with the followingmodification.

When the UE determines the first CORESET with CSS or the USS, for thesake of determination of other CORESETs with the same QCL-typeD, the UEmonitors PDCCH candidates in SS sets corresponding to the second CORESETif the PDCCH candidate of the second CORESET does not overlap with anyPDCCH candidate of the first CORESET in both time and frequency domain,such that the two candidates are associated with two different values ofQCL-typeD on same REs.

The eighth and ninth methods describe PDCCH monitoring in the secondCORESET on a PDCCH candidate level (i.e., the UE may monitor some PDCCHcandidates in the second COREST and not monitor some others). Monitoringmay also be defined on a CORESTE level, as described in the methodsbelow.

In a tenth method with a general CORESET prioritization rule (CORESETlevel granularity: TD overlapping), if the UE operates in single cell orintra-band CA and is configured with any of the multi-TRP PDCCH schemes,the UE applies the legacy rule to determine the CORESETs to monitor withthe following modification.

When the UE determines the first CORESET with CSS or the USS, for thesake of determination of other CORESETs with the same QCL-typeD, the UEmonitors PDCCH candidates in SS sets corresponding to the second CORESETif for every two PDCCH candidate #1 from the first CORESET and PDCCHcandidate #2 from the second CORESET, the two candidates do not overlapin time with two different values of QCL-typeD on the same symbols.

In an eleventh method with a general CORESET prioritization rule(CORESET level granularity: TD and FD overlapping), if the UE operatesin single cell or intra-band CA and is configured with any of themulti-TRP PDCCH schemes, the UE applies the legacy rule to determine theCORESETs to monitor with the following modification.

When the UE determines the first CORESET with CSS or the USS, for thesake of determination of other CORESETs with the same QCL-typeD, the UEmonitors PDCCH candidates in SS sets corresponding to the second CORESETif for every two PDCCH candidate #1 from the first CORESET and PDCCHcandidate #2 from the second CORESET, the two candidates do not overlapin both time or frequency with two different values of QCL-typeD on thesame REs.

Restriction on Soft Combining

As described above, one of the options for non SFN M-TRP PDCCHtransmission is repetition, as described below.

Encoding/rate matching is based on one repetition, and the same codedbits are repeated for the other repetition. Each repetition has the samenumber of CCEs and coded bits, and corresponds to the same DCI payload.

In this case, a soft combining operation may happen at a UE to handlesuch repetitions. There may be a potential complexity of a softcombining operation of PDCCH due to its blind nature. Such softcombining would need to be done in a candidate-by-candidate manner,while acknowledging linkage between repetitions for every decodingattempt. Such candidate-by-candidate combining also implies that a UEneeds to hold full LLR buffer of two separate SSs until decoding of allcandidates is done. Hence, careful consideration would be necessary withoption 2 to reduce implementation impact. For example, the number ofBDs/CCEs corresponding to repetitions may need to be limited. Inaddition to a BD/CCE limit defined across all SSs and CORESETs, anadditional limitation on BD/CCE for SSs and CORESETs corresponding tothe repetitions may need to be considered. The amount of such limitationas well as necessity of such limitation may need to be declared by a UEas a UE capability. Since many BD candidates can exist in overlappingmanner in each SS, an LLR buffer in terms of candidates typicallybecomes much larger than an LLR buffer in terms of CCE. Hence, a UE mayneed to store an LLR of a first repetition in terms of CCE, whichimplies that shuffling of LLR and restructuring buffer in terms ofcandidates would need to happen for both first and second repetitionLLRs when soft combining is attempted. An impact of such doubling ofprocessing needs to considered, and restriction on the number of BD/CCEcorresponding to repetitions (e.g., up to half amount of per-slot BD/CCElimit), would be required. One way of handling such an increased burdencan be using unused CA capability. This can be realized by usingper-feature set per component carrier (FSPC)/per-feature set(FS)/per-band combination (BC) capability signaling for thisfunctionality which are described below.

In any case, a situation in which a UE needs to hold an LLR buffer offirst repetitions for long time, while a UE also needs to monitor otherMOs including more of such first repetitions should be prevented. Forexample, with inter-slot repetition with two consecutive slots, theamount of the worst case memory corresponding to unresolved firstrepetitions and the current MO would be two times of per-slot BD/CCElimit, and such amount would further increase with larger distancebetween slots. Hence, SSs corresponding to such repetitions may need tobe contained within one slot or within certain distance in time.Distance between SSs corresponding to such repetitions can be declaredas UE capability. For example, support of inter-slot repetition can bedeclared as UE capability. To allow a UE to handle such increased burdenby using unused CA capability, this can be realized by usingper-FSPC/per-FS/per-BC capability signaling for this functionality whichare described below. Alternatively, there may need to be restriction onthe number of SS's or the amount of CCEs or candidates corresponding tofirst repetitions before the time instance including MOs with secondrepetitions. For example, a UE is not required to store more thanper-slot BD/CCE limit at any given time.

UE capability signaling described in 5G new radio (NR) specification38.306 and 38.822 refers to the mechanism with which the UE informs thegNB of its capability to perform certain features. The following is a(non-limiting) list of possible ways of reporting UE capability.

The UE can report its capability to perform certain features in anyscenario. In this case, it is said that the UE reports its capability ona per-UE basis.

The UE can report its capability to perform certain features inparticular bands. In this case, it is said that the UE reports itscapability on a per-band basis.

The UE can report its capability to perform certain features inparticular band combinations for CA. In this case, it is said that theUE reports its capability on a per-bandcombination or per-BC basis.

The UE can report its capability to perform certain features in specificband(s) in particular band combination for CA. In this case, a mechanismreferred to as feature sets can be used to allow for such flexibility inreporting, and it is said that the UE reports its capability on aper-featureSet or per-FS basis in that case.

The UE can report its capability to perform certain features in specificcomponent carrier(s) (CC) in particular band combination for CA. In thiscase, a mechanism referred to as feature sets per cc can be used toallow for such flexibility in reporting, and it is said that the UEreports its capability on a per-featureSet per cc or per-FSPC basis inthat case.

In the above, band combination is collection of bands to represent CAconfiguration as described in 3GPP specification 38.101. From the firstbullet to the last bullet in the above, a UE's flexibility for declaringsupport of certain features increase. For example, if feature A andfeature B are per-FSPC, a UE can have full flexibility of supportingonly one of feature A and B in each CC. However, if those features areper-UE, then a UE would always need to support or not support. Trade-offto added flexibility is its overhead in signaling. Hence, thedetermination of how certain feature is declared must acknowledgecomplexity of the feature in UE implementation and associated signalingoverhead.

To maintain the UE LLR buffering issue complexity, the following methodsare proposed for intra-slot PDCCH monitoring.

In a first method with a maximum number of early MOs, when the UE isconfigured with intra-slot PDCCH repetition, where a first set of PDCCHcandidates in the first SS set are linked to the second set of PDCCHcandidates in the second SS set, the first and second SS sets eachinclude L MOs in the slots, where the PDCCH candidates of i-th MO of thefirst SS set are linked to the PDCCH candidates of the i-th MO of thesecond SS set. The L MOs of the first and second SS set are such that:

Ordering the MOs of each SS set in ascending order of the start or endsymbol of the MO, for every i, the number of MOs of the first SS setwhich are between the i-th MO of the first SS set and i-th MO of thesecond SS set is less than or equal to M, where M is either fixed or RRCconfigured according to a UE capability.

A special case of first method is when the maximum number is equal tozero, which means that the two sets of MOs are fully intermixed.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of monitoring PDCCHcandidates, according to an embodiment. At 902, a maximum number of MOsof a first SS set permitted between a first MO of the first SS set and asecond MO of a second SS set, is set. The maximum number is setaccording to a capability of the UE. First PDCCH candidates of the firstMO are linked to second PDCCH candidates of the second MO. Specificallyeach MO of the first SS set is linked to a respective MO of the secondSS set. Additionally, a time between individual MOs in a linked pair ofMOs is less than or equal to a preset time. At 904, MOs of the first SSset and the second SS set are arranged in ascending order based on theset maximum number of MOs. The ascending order is based on a startsymbol or an end symbol of each of the MOs. At 906, the PDCCH candidatesin the arranged MOs are received in accordance with the UE and a networkcommunicating using a multi-TRP repetition scheme or a multi-TRPmulti-chance scheme.

In a second method with two sets of MOs fully inter-mixed, when the UEis configured with intra-slot PDCCH repetition, where a first set ofPDCCH candidates in the first SS set are linked to the second set ofPDCCH candidates in the second SS set, the first and second SS sets eachinclude L MOs in the slots, where the PDCCH candidates of i-th MO of thefirst SS set are linked to the PDCCH candidates of the i-th MO of thesecond SS set. The L MOs of the first and second SS set are such that:

Ordering the MOs of each SS set in ascending order of the start or endsymbol of the MO, none of MOs of the first SS set is between i-th MO ofthe first SS set and i-th MO of the second SS set.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating two sets of MOs fully inter-mixed,according to an embodiment. First through fourth MOs 1002-1008 are of afirst CORESET and SS set. Fifth through eighth MOs 1010-1016 are of asecond CORESET and SS set. There is at most M=0 MOs for the first SSset, shown in red, between any two linked MOs one from the first SS setand one from the second SS set.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating two sets of MOs fully inter-mixed,according to another embodiment. Reference numerals 1102-1116 generallycorrespond to 1002-1016 and the corresponding description above withrespect to FIG. 10. There is one MO of the first SS set which appearsbetween the two MOs linked MOs (i.e., MO number 2).

The aforementioned methods may not be sufficient to mitigate the LLRbuffering issue. One other aspect which may impact the issue, is thenumber of close/overlapping linked MOs.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating overlapping linked MOs, according toan embodiment. Reference numerals 1202-1216 generally correspond to1002-1016 and the corresponding description above with respect to FIG.10. Ninth through twelfth MOs 1218-1214 are in a third CORESET. The UEwould need to buffer LLRs for the four “first-repetition” MOs, whichincreases the buffering requirement significantly, even though theconfiguration satisfies the conditions in the second method, which isthe most mitigating case. As a different approach, the maximum number offirst-repetition MOs can be limited within any X symbols. Note that anMO is referred to as “first”-repetition MO if it is linked to another MOwhich starts later in time. In this case, the linked MO which startslater is referred to as “second-repetition” MO.

In a third method with a maximum number of first-repetitions within aninterval, when the UE is configured with intra-slot PDCCH repetition,the maximum number of “first-repetition” MOs which are within aninterval of X symbols is less than or equal to K, where K is eitherfixed or determined according to a UE capability. “First-repetition” MOsmay include unlinked MOs (i.e., MOs not including linked candidates).

The interval of X symbols may be the PDCCH monitoring span, or anyconsecutive X symbols in the slot.

Alternatively, the upper bound K may only be applied when the“first-repetition” and the “second-repetition” are not within the sameset of X symbols.

As an example, if the UE reports K=2, FIG. 12 is not supported, as thenumber of “first-repetition” within X symbols is 4.

In a fourth method with a maximum number of first-repetitions within aslot, a span, or a set of slots, when the UE is configured with PDCCHrepetition, the maximum number of “first-repetition” MOs that are withina span, a slot, or a set of slots, which are linked to MOs that are inthe next spans or slots, is less than or equal to K, where K is eitherfixed or determined according to a UE capability.

Alternatively, the upper bound K may only be applied when the“first-repetition” and the “second-repetition” are not within the sameset of X symbols.

Another problematic scenario is when all the conditions provided by theaforementioned methods are satisfied, but the second-repetition MO istoo close to a first-repetition MO which appears later in time.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a second-repetition MO and a firstrepetition MO later in time, according to an embodiment. The UE may nothave sufficient time to finish processing of the two linked first MOs1302 and 1304 before starting to monitor the linked second MOs 1306 and1308. Therefore, it would need additional buffer for storing the LLRs ofthe second MO as the buffer of first MO may be still occupied. Tomitigate the issue one approach is to introduce a minimum gap betweensecond-repetition MO and a first-repetition MO which comes later intime.

In a fifth method with a minimum time gap between unlinkfirst-repetition and second repetitions, when the UE is configured withintra-slot PDCCH repetition, and assuming ordering the MOs of the linkedSS sets in ascending order of the start or end symbol of the MO, if asecond-repetition MO #i of SS set 1 is linked to a second-repetition MO#i of SS set 2, the time gap from the end of the second-repetition tothe start of the next first-repetition MO is at least K symbols, where Kis either fixed number or determined according to the UE capability.

From a UE implementation point of view, a PDCCH candidate that is linkedto a later candidate is “unresolved” until the linked candidate is nottransmitted. This is due to the fact that the UE may need to store LLRsof the first repetition and process them jointly after reception of thesecond candidate. Similarly MOs can be considered as resolved orunresolved. Whether an MO is resolved or unresolved is a function oftime.

In a sixth method with an unresolved PDCCH candidate or MO, when the UEis configured with PDCCH repetition, a first set of candidates aretransmitted in the first MO, and a second set of candidates aretransmitted in the second MO, which ends/starts later than the first MO,the first MO is unresolved at a given time, if the second MO doesn't endby that time. Unresolved MOs/candidates may include unlinkedMOs/candidates (i.e., MOs not including linked candidates).

With the notion of resolved or unresolved MOs, a maximum number ofunresolved MOs/candidates at a given time, or BD/CCE limitscorresponding to unresolved candidates/MOs, may be limited to maintainUE complexity.

In a seventh method with a maximum number of unresolved MOs, when the UEis configured with PDCCH repetition, the maximum number of unresolvedMOs at any check-point time is less than or equal to an upper limit. Thecheck-point time may be arbitrary, a slot boundary, or a span boundary.With a slot/span boundary check point, there may be a limitation of themaximum number of MOs that are unresolved across slots/spans. In otherwords, there may be a limitation on a maximum number of MOscorresponding to a first repetition, where corresponding secondrepetitions are in a different slot/span.

As an example, the seventh method may be described in terms ofunresolved MOs. The number of unresolved MOs at the end of each Xsymbols is less than or equal to K.

The notion of unresolved MOs can also be associated with the BD/CCElimit.

In an eighth method with a maximum unresolved BD/CCE limit, when the UEis configured with PDCCH repetition, the unresolved BD/CCE limit at anycheck-point time is less than or equal to an upper limit. Thecheck-point time may be arbitrary, a slot boundary, or a span boundary.With a slot/span boundary check point, there may be a limitation of amaximum number of BD/CCE unresolved across slots/spans. In other words,there may be a limitation of a maximum number of BD/CCE corresponding toa first repetition, where corresponding second repetitions are in adifferent slot/span. When the UE reports to count every two linkedPDSCCH candidate as γ candidates, each candidate in an unresolved MO iscounted as γ₁ and each candidate in the MO, which the unresolved MO islinked to is counted as γ₂, where γ₁+γ₂=γ. A special case is

$\gamma_{1} = {\gamma_{2} = {\frac{\gamma}{2}.}}$

Span-Based PDCCH Monitoring: BD/CCE Limit for Inter-Span Repetition andOverbooking

Since each PDCCH candidate can be associated to two TCI states, it maybe needed to count a candidate more than once towards the BD/CCE limit.In particular, an FDM scheme requires simultaneous reception of twodifferent TCI states, which may increase the PDCCH monitoringcomplexity. With repetition schemes, soft combining may be used forpolar decoding. However, RE de-mapping to combine the LLRs may alsoincrease the PDCCH monitoring complexity. With non-repetition schemes,each PDCCH may be counted separately regardless of repetition of thecontent of the DCI. Overall, PDCCH candidate counting should berevisited to account for multiple TCI states.

As described above, due to multiple TCI states involved intransmission/reception of one PDCCH, how to count the BD/CCE limits maybe reconsidered to account for multiple TCI states.

When the UE is configured with inter-span or inter-slot PDCCHrepetition, it must be specified how to count the linked PDCCHcandidates across the spans or slots.

In a first method with a BD/CCE limit for inter-span or inter-slotrepetition, when the UE is configured with inter-span or inter-slotrepetition, if the UE counts every two linked PDCCH candidates as γ, theUE counts the first candidate as γ₁ and the second candidate as γ₂,where γ₁+γ₂=γ, if the two candidates are in different spans or slots. Aspecial case is

$\gamma_{1} = {\gamma_{2} = {\frac{\gamma}{2}.}}$

The UE may report γ₁, γ₂ separately as a UE capability. γ may beimplicitly reported as γ=γ₁+γ₂.

The UE counts the candidates in the first span or slot according to γ₁and γ₂, and performs SS overbooking or dropping in the span/slot.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an electronic device in a networkenvironment, according to one embodiment. Referring to FIG. 14, anelectronic device 1401 in a network environment 1400 may communicatewith an electronic device 1402 via a first network 1498 (e.g., ashort-range wireless communication network), or an electronic device1404 or a server 1408 via a second network 1499 (e.g., a long-rangewireless communication network). The electronic device 1401 maycommunicate with the electronic device 1404 via the server 1408. Theelectronic device 1401 may include a processor 1420, a memory 1430, aninput device 1450, a sound output device 1455, a display device 1460, anaudio module 1470, a sensor module 1476, an interface 1477, a hapticmodule 1479, a camera module 1480, a power management module 1488, abattery 1489, a communication module 1490, a subscriber identificationmodule (SIM) 1496, or an antenna module 1497. In one embodiment, atleast one (e.g., the display device 1460 or the camera module 1480) ofthe components may be omitted from the electronic device 1401, or one ormore other components may be added to the electronic device 1401. Someof the components may be implemented as a single integrated circuit(IC). For example, the sensor module 1476 (e.g., a fingerprint sensor,an iris sensor, or an illuminance sensor) may be embedded in the displaydevice 1460 (e.g., a display).

The processor 1420 may execute, for example, software (e.g., a program1440) to control at least one other component (e.g., a hardware or asoftware component) of the electronic device 1401 coupled with theprocessor 1420, and may perform various data processing or computations.As at least part of the data processing or computations, the processor1420 may load a command or data received from another component (e.g.,the sensor module 1476 or the communication module 1490) in volatilememory 1432, process the command or the data stored in the volatilememory 1432, and store resulting data in non-volatile memory 1434. Theprocessor 1420 may include a main processor 1421 (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU) or an application processor (AP)), and anauxiliary processor 1423 (e.g., a graphics processing unit (GPU), animage signal processor (ISP), a sensor hub processor, or a communicationprocessor (CP)) that is operable independently from, or in conjunctionwith, the main processor 1421. Additionally or alternatively, theauxiliary processor 1423 may be adapted to consume less power than themain processor 1421, or execute a particular function. The auxiliaryprocessor 1423 may be implemented as being separate from, or a part of,the main processor 1421.

The auxiliary processor 1423 may control at least some of the functionsor states related to at least one component (e.g., the display device1460, the sensor module 1476, or the communication module 1490) amongthe components of the electronic device 1401, instead of the mainprocessor 1421 while the main processor 1421 is in an inactive (e.g.,sleep) state, or together with the main processor 1421 while the mainprocessor 1421 is in an active state (e.g., executing an application).The auxiliary processor 1423 (e.g., an image signal processor or acommunication processor) may be implemented as part of another component(e.g., the camera module 1480 or the communication module 1490)functionally related to the auxiliary processor 1423.

The memory 1430 may store various data used by at least one component(e.g., the processor 1420 or the sensor module 1476) of the electronicdevice 1401. The various data may include, for example, software (e.g.,the program 1440) and input data or output data for a command relatedthereto. The memory 1430 may include the volatile memory 1432 or thenon-volatile memory 1434.

The program 1440 may be stored in the memory 1430 as software, and mayinclude, for example, an operating system (OS) 1442, middleware 1444, oran application 1446.

The input device 1450 may receive a command or data to be used by othercomponent (e.g., the processor 1420) of the electronic device 1401, fromthe outside (e.g., a user) of the electronic device 1401. The inputdevice 1450 may include, for example, a microphone, a mouse, or akeyboard.

The sound output device 1455 may output sound signals to the outside ofthe electronic device 1401. The sound output device 1455 may include,for example, a speaker or a receiver. The speaker may be used forgeneral purposes, such as playing multimedia or recording, and thereceiver may be used for receiving an incoming call. The receiver may beimplemented as being separate from, or a part of, the speaker.

The display device 1460 may visually provide information to the outside(e.g., a user) of the electronic device 1401. The display device 1460may include, for example, a display, a hologram device, or a projectorand control circuitry to control a corresponding one of the display,hologram device, and projector. The display device 1460 may includetouch circuitry adapted to detect a touch, or sensor circuitry (e.g., apressure sensor) adapted to measure the intensity of force incurred bythe touch.

The audio module 1470 may convert a sound into an electrical signal andvice versa. The audio module 1470 may obtain the sound via the inputdevice 1450, or output the sound via the sound output device 1455 or aheadphone of an external electronic device 1402 directly (e.g., wired)or wirelessly coupled with the electronic device 1401.

The sensor module 1476 may detect an operational state (e.g., power ortemperature) of the electronic device 1401 or an environmental state(e.g., a state of a user) external to the electronic device 1401, andthen generate an electrical signal or data value corresponding to thedetected state. The sensor module 1476 may include, for example, agesture sensor, a gyro sensor, an atmospheric pressure sensor, amagnetic sensor, an acceleration sensor, a grip sensor, a proximitysensor, a color sensor, an infrared (IR) sensor, a biometric sensor, atemperature sensor, a humidity sensor, or an illuminance sensor.

The interface 1477 may support one or more specified protocols to beused for the electronic device 1401 to be coupled with the externalelectronic device 1402 directly (e.g., wired) or wirelessly. Theinterface 1477 may include, for example, a high definition multimediainterface (HDMI), a universal serial bus (USB) interface, a securedigital (SD) card interface, or an audio interface.

A connecting terminal 1478 may include a connector via which theelectronic device 1401 may be physically connected with the externalelectronic device 1402. The connecting terminal 1478 may include, forexample, an HDMI connector, a USB connector, an SD card connector, or anaudio connector (e.g., a headphone connector).

The haptic module 1479 may convert an electrical signal into amechanical stimulus (e.g., a vibration or a movement) or an electricalstimulus which may be recognized by a user via tactile sensation orkinesthetic sensation. The haptic module 1479 may include, for example,a motor, a piezoelectric element, or an electrical stimulator.

The camera module 1480 may capture a still image or moving images. Thecamera module 1480 may include one or more lenses, image sensors, imagesignal processors, or flashes.

The power management module 1488 may manage power supplied to theelectronic device 1401. The power management module 1488 may beimplemented as at least part of, for example, a power managementintegrated circuit (PMIC).

The battery 1489 may supply power to at least one component of theelectronic device 1401. The battery 1489 may include, for example, aprimary cell which is not rechargeable, a secondary cell which isrechargeable, or a fuel cell.

The communication module 1490 may support establishing a direct (e.g.,wired) communication channel or a wireless communication channel betweenthe electronic device 1401 and the external electronic device (e.g., theelectronic device 1402, the electronic device 1404, or the server 1408)and performing communication via the established communication channel.The communication module 1490 may include one or more communicationprocessors that are operable independently from the processor 1420(e.g., the AP) and supports a direct (e.g., wired) communication or awireless communication. The communication module 1490 may include awireless communication module 1492 (e.g., a cellular communicationmodule, a short-range wireless communication module, or a globalnavigation satellite system (GNSS) communication module) or a wiredcommunication module 1494 (e.g., a local area network (LAN)communication module or a power line communication (PLC) module). Acorresponding one of these communication modules may communicate withthe external electronic device via the first network 1498 (e.g., ashort-range communication network, such as Bluetooth™, wireless-fidelity(Wi-Fi) direct, or a standard of the Infrared Data Association (IrDA))or the second network 1499 (e.g., a long-range communication network,such as a cellular network, the Internet, or a computer network (e.g.,LAN or wide area network (WAN)). These various types of communicationmodules may be implemented as a single component (e.g., a single IC), ormay be implemented as multiple components (e.g., multiple ICs) that areseparate from each other. The wireless communication module 1492 mayidentify and authenticate the electronic device 1401 in a communicationnetwork, such as the first network 1498 or the second network 1499,using subscriber information (e.g., international mobile subscriberidentity (IMSI)) stored in the subscriber identification module 1496.

The antenna module 1497 may transmit or receive a signal or power to orfrom the outside (e.g., the external electronic device) of theelectronic device 1401. The antenna module 1497 may include one or moreantennas, and, therefrom, at least one antenna appropriate for acommunication scheme used in the communication network, such as thefirst network 1498 or the second network 1499, may be selected, forexample, by the communication module 1490 (e.g., the wirelesscommunication module 1492). The signal or the power may then betransmitted or received between the communication module 1490 and theexternal electronic device via the selected at least one antenna.

At least some of the above-described components may be mutually coupledand communicate signals (e.g., commands or data) therebetween via aninter-peripheral communication scheme (e.g., a bus, a general purposeinput and output (GPIO), a serial peripheral interface (SPI), or amobile industry processor interface (MIPI)).

Commands or data may be transmitted or received between the electronicdevice 1401 and the external electronic device 1404 via the server 1408coupled with the second network 1499. Each of the electronic devices1402 and 1404 may be a device of a same type as, or a different type,from the electronic device 1401. All or some of operations to beexecuted at the electronic device 1401 may be executed at one or more ofthe external electronic devices 1402, 1404, or 1408. For example, if theelectronic device 1401 should perform a function or a serviceautomatically, or in response to a request from a user or anotherdevice, the electronic device 1401, instead of, or in addition to,executing the function or the service, may request the one or moreexternal electronic devices to perform at least part of the function orthe service. The one or more external electronic devices receiving therequest may perform the at least part of the function or the servicerequested, or an additional function or an additional service related tothe request, and transfer an outcome of the performing to the electronicdevice 1401. The electronic device 1401 may provide the outcome, with orwithout further processing of the outcome, as at least part of a replyto the request. To that end, a cloud computing, distributed computing,or client-server computing technology may be used, for example.

One embodiment may be implemented as software (e.g., the program 1440)including one or more instructions that are stored in a storage medium(e.g., internal memory 1436 or external memory 1438) that is readable bya machine (e.g., the electronic device 1401). For example, a processorof the electronic device 1401 may invoke at least one of the one or moreinstructions stored in the storage medium, and execute it, with orwithout using one or more other components under the control of theprocessor. Thus, a machine may be operated to perform at least onefunction according to the at least one instruction invoked. The one ormore instructions may include code generated by a complier or codeexecutable by an interpreter. A machine-readable storage medium may beprovided in the form of a non-transitory storage medium. The term“non-transitory” indicates that the storage medium is a tangible device,and does not include a signal (e.g., an electromagnetic wave), but thisterm does not differentiate between where data is semi-permanentlystored in the storage medium and where the data is temporarily stored inthe storage medium.

According to one embodiment, a method of the disclosure may be includedand provided in a computer program product. The computer program productmay be traded as a product between a seller and a buyer. The computerprogram product may be distributed in the form of a machine-readablestorage medium (e.g., a compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM)), or bedistributed (e.g., downloaded or uploaded) online via an applicationstore (e.g., Play Store™), or between two user devices (e.g., smartphones) directly. If distributed online, at least part of the computerprogram product may be temporarily generated or at least temporarilystored in the machine-readable storage medium, such as memory of themanufacturer's server, a server of the application store, or a relayserver.

According to one embodiment, each component (e.g., a module or aprogram) of the above-described components may include a single entityor multiple entities. One or more of the above-described components maybe omitted, or one or more other components may be added. Alternativelyor additionally, a plurality of components (e.g., modules or programs)may be integrated into a single component. In this case, the integratedcomponent may still perform one or more functions of each of theplurality of components in the same or similar manner as they areperformed by a corresponding one of the plurality of components beforethe integration. Operations performed by the module, the program, oranother component may be carried out sequentially, in parallel,repeatedly, or heuristically, or one or more of the operations may beexecuted in a different order or omitted, or one or more otheroperations may be added.

Although certain embodiments of the present disclosure have beendescribed in the detailed description of the present disclosure, thepresent disclosure may be modified in various forms without departingfrom the scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the scope of the presentdisclosure shall not be determined merely based on the describedembodiments, but rather determined based on the accompanying claims andequivalents thereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for monitoring physical downlink controlchannel (PDCCH) candidates, by a user equipment (UE), the methodcomprising: identifying a reference control resource set (CORESET)having a plurality of transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states;and monitoring the PDCCH candidates in the reference CORESET and in oneor more CORESETs that overlap the reference CORESET in a time domain,wherein each of the one or more CORESETs has a set of one or more TCIstates that is either identical to, or a subset of, the plurality of TCIstates of the reference CORESET, receiving the monitored PDCCHcandidates in accordance with a single frequency network (SFN)transmission scheme.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the referenceCORESET has two TCI states.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoringthe PDCCH candidates comprises: identifying CORESETs that overlap thereference CORESET in the time domain; and determining, from theidentified CORESETs, the one or more CORESETs having all of, or only aportion of, the plurality of TCI states of the reference CORESET.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the UE is configured for single celloperation or for operation with intra-band carrier aggregation.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the reference CORESET corresponds to: thecommon search space (CSS) set with a lowest index in a cell with alowest index containing CSS; or a UE-specific search space (USS) setwith a lowest index in a cell with a lowest index.
 6. A user equipment(UE) comprising: a processor; and a non-transitory computer readablestorage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause theprocessor to: identify a reference control resource set (CORESET) havinga plurality of transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states;monitor physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidates in thereference CORESET and in one or more CORESETs that overlap the referenceCORESET in a time domain, wherein each of the one or more CORESETs has aset of one or more TC states that is either identical to, or a subsetof, the plurality of TCI states of the reference CORESET; and receivethe monitored PDCCH candidates in accordance with a single frequencynetwork (SFN) transmission scheme.
 7. The UE of claim 6, wherein thereference CORESET has two TCI states.
 8. The UE of claim 6, wherein, inmonitoring the PDCCH candidates, the instructions cause the processorto: identify CORESETs that overlap the reference CORESET in the timedomain; and determine, from the identified CORESETs, the one or moreCORESETs having all of, or only a portion of, the plurality of TCIstates of the reference CORESET.
 9. The UE of claim 6, wherein the UE isconfigured for single cell operation or for operation with intra-bandcarrier aggregation.
 10. The UE of claim 6, wherein the referenceCORESET corresponds to: the common search space (CSS) set with a lowestindex in a cell with a lowest index containing CSS; or a UE-specificsearch space (USS) set with a lowest index in a cell with a lowestindex.
 11. A method for monitoring physical downlink control channels(PDCCH) candidates by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:setting a maximum number of monitoring occasions (MOs) of a first searchspace (SS) set permitted between a first MO of the first SS set and asecond MO of a second SS set, wherein first PDCCH candidates of thefirst MO are linked to second PDCCH candidates of the second MO;arranging MOs of the first SS set and the second SS set in ascendingorder based on the set maximum number of MOs; and receiving the PDCCHcandidates in the arranged MOs in accordance with the UE and a networkcommunicating using a multi-transmission and reception point (TRP)repetition scheme or a multi-TRP multi-chance scheme.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, wherein each MO of the first SS set is linked to a respectiveMO of the second SS set, and the UE is configured with intra-slot PDCCHrepetition.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the ascending order isbased on a start symbol or an end symbol of each of the MOs.
 14. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the maximum number is set according to acapability of the UE.
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein a time betweenlinked MOs is less than or equal to a preset time.
 16. The method ofclaim 11, wherein, when the first PDCCH candidates and the second PDCCHcandidates are in different spans or slots, and when the UE countslinked PDCCH candidates as γ, the first PDCCH candidates are counted asγ₁ and the second PDCCH candidates are counted as γ₂, where the sum ofγ₁ and γ₂ is γ.
 17. A user equipment (UE) comprising: a processor; and anon-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructionsthat, when executed, cause the processor to: set a maximum number ofmonitoring occasions (MOs) of a first search space (SS) set permittedbetween a first MO of the first SS set and a second MO of a second SSset, wherein first PDCCH candidates of the first MO are linked to secondPDCCH candidates of the second MO; arrange MOs of the first SS set andthe second SS set in ascending order based on the set maximum number ofMOs; and receive PDCCH candidates in the arranged MOs in accordance withthe UE and a network communicating using a multi-transmission andreception point (TRP) repetition scheme or a multi-TRP multi-chancescheme.
 18. The UE of claim 17, wherein each MO of the first SS set islinked to a respective MO of the second SS set, and the UE is configuredwith intra-slot PDCCH repetition.
 19. The UE of claim 17, wherein theascending order is based on a start symbol or an end symbol of each ofthe MOs.
 20. The UE of claim 17, wherein the maximum number is setaccording to a capability of the UE.
 21. The UE of claim 17, wherein atime between linked MOs is less than or equal to a preset time.
 22. TheUE of claim 17, wherein, when the first PDCCH candidates and the secondPDCCH candidates are in different spans or slots, and when the UE countslinked PDCCH candidates as γ, the first PDCCH candidates are counted asγ₁ and the second PDCCH candidates are counted as γ₂, where the sum ofγ₁ and γ₂ is γ.